Adelaide United youth team coach and Adelaide Fusion Futsal club head coach, Joshua James Smith, is back with Vanuatu Futsal team as they prepare for the Oceania Football Confederation Futsal Nations Cup in Arene Du Sud in New Caledonia.
The tournament starts this weekend and Smith was here three weeks ago to prepare the team.
Talking to VFF media this week, Smith said the role was not new to him and he was supporting the national team since 2017 and also was an adviser to Erakor Golden Star FC in the 2019 Oceania Champions League.
“I was here three years ago working with the National Futsal Team, and now I am back three weeks ago to prepare the team for the 2019 OFC Futsal Nations Cup tournament,” he said.
He is with the team in New Caledonia and this weekend they will play their opening match against host New Caledonia.
“We are going up against a more experienced side who we expect to be well prepared under Juliano, although our side is young and with no international experience apart from Benny Hungai, we are confident in a good performance and will play hard for 40mins to earn the result.
“All our focus for the last 2 weeks has been in preparation for New Caledonia, this is a must win game for us. I think fans can expect a new style of futsal for Vanuatu for the future with Richard Wilkins and Terry Malapa in charge of implementing this philosophy long term.
“We are excited and we will be ready for Mondays match,” Smith said.
Smith has a Futsal Senior License in Australia and AFC B License and also holds a Bachelor of Personal Health Development and Physical Education.
They played three friendlies in Noumea this week and they lost to Tahiti by 4-0 and UNC Futsal 3-1 and won UNC in a replay by 2-1.
The article was published by Vanuatu Daily Post October 26th Edition
